Power sharing in the National Forest: Paradigm shift or window dressing?

Principal Investigator:

Dr. Martha Geores

There are 155 national forests, encompassing 191 million acres, in 44 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Most, but certainly not all of it, is wooded land. How it is managed matters a great deal. National forests protect watersheds, they are a habitat for a rich array of flora and fauna, they are a storehouse of timber, and they contain wilderness retreats, among other things. Today's management decisions have amplifications well into the future. Who manages the national forests also matters a great deal. It is necessary to distinguish between administrate and manage. The United States Forest Service administers the national forests, and the Forest Service has a great deal to do with managing them.

However, in 1976 Congress mandated public involvement in the essential management task of defining the parameters of multiple use resource and setting priorities for the use of the forests. This study focuses on public input to the planning process. We are now in the second round of 10-year Forest Management Plans and this study will examine how public involvement has been integrated into the planning process and the impact it has had on forest management.

A pilot project is presently underway in the Jefferson National Forest in southwestern Virginia. The National Forest Service is in the process of formulating the second Forest Plan for Jefferson National Forest. This study examines the socio-economic and political context of the Jefferson National Forest, the identity and interest of stakeholders, both private, and public, and the role of these stakeholders and of the public in decision-making. The process undergone for adoption of the first Forest Plan, and the continuing developments for the second Forest Plan furnish rich data about the planning process. The model against which the actual planning process will be gauged is a co-management model in which stakeholders would have not just the right to comment, but the right to have a voice in management decisions.

For more information contact Martha Geores at mgeores@geog.umd.edu